Benderson to submit revised Maple Road plan
Changes rezoning requirements
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

The proposed Town Centre plan will include a 4-acre park along Maple Road, thus moving the actual buildings back, at least 100 feet from the street.

The linear park will cross the entire frontage of the property, which is on the former Buffalo Gun Club tract.

"It will consist of green space, walking paths and benches," said Erik Recoon, vice president of leasing development for Benderson Development Co.

He expects the formal proposal to be submitted by the end of February. The addition of a park will decrease the development by about 13 percent, Recoon said.

He added that a smaller project will produce less traffic, a major concern of nearby residents.

Benderson has requested a rezoning of the parcels at 218 and 330 Maple Road, 28 acres, from CF-Community Facilities to GB-General Business and 5 acres from CF and R-3-Residential to MFR-6-Multi-Family Residential.

The proposed park would not be subject to a rezoning.

Planning Director Rick Gillert said if the project is moved back 100 feet from Maple Road, the land that needs to be rezoned is outside of the

buffer."

That means the petition filed, by at least 20 percent of adjacent property owners, would not uphold the need for super majority approval - at least six votes.

While the new plan has not yet been officially submitted, Recoon discussed it last week.

At Monday's Amherst Town Board meeting, Council Member Dan Ward proposed a resolution to deny the rezoning. Only Ward and Deborah Bruch Bucki voted in favor of it.

That was the first time Bucki went on the record against the rezoning. She had been considered a "swing vote."

Judy Ferraro, of the Fairways Group, which is against the proposal, released this statement to The Amherst Bee: "Commercial development should not be allowed on this property at all. It is in direct violation of our town's own comprehensive plan. This plan opposes commercial development, at this location, for the same reasons the residents of the area oppose it."

Benderson has proposed a multi use development that would include restaurants, stores, residential units and a theater at the site on Maple Road.

Those opposing the plan say it should remain undeveloped and that traffic would be an issue.